Since April 2017, I have been on a constant search for the history of my family. This search has taken me to Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri. I have visited homesteads, interviewed historians, scoured archives, spent hours in libraries' "special collections", and utilized internet resources to find out the true history of the Peck family, and many of the rest of my ancestors. This blog will include history, some of my adventures, the people behind the stories, and some of the personal tidbits that don't find their way into my books.

If you are curious how to "do family history," this blog will give you one example of how to do it. I have had a blast traveling, researching, writing, speaking, and publishing about my journey. I hope you enjoy Discovering History with me.

When my grandma Bea Dot was getting ready to turn 90, my Aunt Polly (Peck) Rutherford asked me to create a video for her birthday celebration and our family reunion in July 2017. I invited our family members to submit photos and videos for the video. I also realized that there were family members who were less tech savvy, and some that would not be able to travel to Alabama for the event. I had never spoken with my great-aunt Nette, but had gotten her phone number from my grandma Bea Dot during a stay at her home in Enterprise, Alabama in May 2016.

When I called Nette and introduced myself to her, she had the greatest laugh, and the sweetest voice. I always call her "Great-Aunt Nette," and she revealed to me years later that she didn't know "great-aunt" was a real term. She always just thought I was saying she was a "great" Aunt 😄. As we talked, she told me her fond memories of my grandma Bea Dot (Smallwood) Peck, her sister-in-law. 

She loved to tell of the time that she was a college student at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and she arrived late at an airport, and had no ride. She called Bea Dot and my grandfather "Bull", and they saved the day by picking her up. She loved my grandma, and they exchanged letters throughout their lives, especially in the early years. Bea Dot (1927) was only 4 years older than Nette (1931).

After we spoke for a while, she said that she was try to record a video of herself speaking about Bea Dot, which she did with the help of her daughter. Before we hung up the phone, I thought to ask her, "Nette, do you happen to remember the name of your grandparents?" To which she replied, "why yes I do! My grandfather on my dad's side was Dr. Edward Jerome Peck, and my grandma was Cora (Ward) Peck. You know, there is a monument to Dr. Ed Peck in Wolf Creek, Tennessee." This sparked my interest a lot, and I asked why there was a monument to him. She said, "Well, he was the town physician, and when he died, the people made a monument for him." 

When people ask how I got into "family history," I tell them that story. Because ever since I learned the names of my 2nd great-grandparents, Ed & Cora, and that there was a monument to him in, as it turns out, Hot Springs, North Carolina, I have been on a search to find out more. I asked myself, "how could I have a family member that was living 90 years ago (he died in 1927), that has a monument standing in his honor, and never have heard his name, or a single story of his life?" I guess in that moment, I decided to discover his history for myself, and to share it with my family members. This blog, my books, and all my efforts to publish history flow from that desire.